What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[BIL]

Nope - always sounded interesting though. Got a laugh out of how it ties Wolf3D and DOOM's (and thus Commander Keen's) storylines.

[railslave]

Nope - always sounded interesting though. Got a laugh out of how it ties Wolf3D and DOOM's (and thus Commander Keen's) storylines.

Yeah there's a load of comedy value, its very cool, lots of mini games and some very cool weapons (doom rpg had a fps guard dog on a lead )

Best of all, it runs amazingly on old j2me phones, impressive! perfect game for mobile



pretty !!

[null1024]

Tales of the Abyss [3DS].

Oh wow. 10 seconds in Google and I figured out where to go. Fuck that continent.
Either way, just fought three of the God-Generals at once. Xillia has really spoiled me, TotA's combat is super slow. Also, fast travel and universal shops in ToX is hideously convenient -- needing to go to a specific town for certain items and slowly fly across the map in the Albiore is the worst.

Died the first time on the fight because I didn't take out the two casters first like an idiot, since the other God-General doesn't have nearly the range. His casters will hit everywhere [so, Tear's Resurrection kept getting interrupted by their spells, since as the healer she's the biggest threat on the field to them].

And why the fucking hell do you need an item to switch characters mid fight? I have it [hell, I just found out that I have it, at no point do I recall the game letting you know you can switch playable characters when in the X menu with Select], but it's apparently possible to miss it.
Pretty important game feature [that I spent the entire game up to this point without knowing how to use].

The game is littered with things like that. Mind you, so were some of the previous ones [eg, you needed to equip an item [that sells for 32767 Gald, so you might end up selling it without knowing] on other characters to allow for co-op support in Tales of Destiny, in Tales of Eternia [Destiny 2 in the States], you needed an item to use Manual control mode instead of just Semi-Auto [attack targeting support instead of just swinging wherever you are in the direction you face, your attacks only trigger once in range, the character automatically runs into range if out of range, etc] and Auto [full AI control]], but TotA seems to have the most "ordinary features that need to be obtained somehow" throughout the game. Something like "using healing items on another teammate" needs to be unlocked as a skill. That shit's fucking annoying -- meant that I pretty much have to ensure that my healer stays alive constantly and try to keep the other AI fighters from getting killed before their turn to get some HP comes around [AOE healing isn't that useful, since you and your teammates will probably be outside of that area by the time the casting completes].

Oh, and fuck that one full-screen Mystic Arte that one of the God-Generals does when she's low on health. At least it doesn't kill, but everyone is at 1HP and about to get hit by something else probably. I almost threw my 3DS.

It's not a bad game, but fuck, needing to unlock things that would be ordinary features in other games [others in the series even] is annoying. In ToX, just about all unlockable skills and options actually feel like things that deserve to be unlocked [although I really do think that everyone should be able to air-dash in ToX, it makes jumping not completely useless, instead of it just being a Millia specific unlockable skill].
A distressing amount in TotA don't.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

I learned some Cure songs on Rocksmith 2014. Good times. I think the reason that I enjoy Rocksmith so much is because I never get to play with a real band ever and it's kind of a substitute for that. Plus a lot of times I get stuck in a rut with guitar and play the same stuff over and over. The game kind of helps me try different stuff.

I started in on Assasin's Creed 4 also. I've never played one of these games before and my initial thoughts are that it controls like crap. The combat is stiff, slow, and too simple. The stealth is kind of dull and the enemy AI is dumb. I'll keep going with it I guess. Looks nice anyway. Pretty decent voice acting. I'm not really seeing why this is such a hot shit game series yet.

[SuperGrafx]

Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)

[Sir Arthur ahf]

The wonderful 101 (wii U). Near the end

For me it is even better than Bayonetta

Best game no one ever tried. It has sold less than 80.000 units

Probably my 2013 GOTY

Also playing Fire Emblem 3DS. Best FE ever (but the story is not as good as the GC one; so far, 12h into)

[Jeneki]

Finally got the A ending in Volgarr the Viking. Very fun game.

Although I still like the C ending best. Curse those crazy psycho vikings!

[Vexorg]

Games like Wonderful 101 are going to be niche titles no matter how good they are. I actually bought it, but haven't played it yet since I've got way too much other stuff on my plate.

As for stuff I've been playing recently...

-Puzzle and Dragons - I mentioned this one earlier, but still playing it quite a bit. I'm still enjoying it (it's a good "5 minutes here and there" type game), but I'm also finding it to be a serious grindfest, in a way that I don't think even paying for stuff would help all that much. Even if you pull a bunch of godly characters off the Rare Egg Machine, you're still constrained by team strength limits (which you only raise by grinding up player rank.) I'll probably put some money into this mostly to support the developers, but I'm also half-tempted to just wait and see if the 3DS version ever makes it to the US to see if it ends up somehow less grindy.

-Dust: An Elysian Tail - Picked this up in the Steam Holiday sale, and haven't had a whole lot of time to play it yet. So far it reminds me a fair bit of Muramasa and other Vanillaware stuff, which is a good thing. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go eat some more Mysterious Wall Chicken...

[null1024]

Still playing Tales of the Abyss [3DS].

Fought whats-his-face at the Absorption Gate and then spent ages using the newly acquired autopilot to trigger lots of plot without doing much. And apparently, there's lots of game left, even though the last hour before the fight seems to have been made to psych the player up for the end.

That fight was piss easy, at least compared to the boss fight before. Mostly because there's only one of him this time, and partially because I figured out how to trigger my Mystic Arte [once you get AD Skill Special, do an Arcane-class arte and hold attack [not your arte button] during the animation after having triggered Overlimit]...
It's really satisfying to trigger the Mystic Arte animations, they have little cut-ins and the screen has the usual "shit's going down" zooming framebuffer effect that's in every post-PS1 RPG ever.

I bet things like that are in the PS2 manual, since the 3DS one is just this tiny 12 page thing thing with basic controls [ones that get explained in game anyway, natch] repeated in the three usual languages [so, 4 actual double-sided pages]. Siiiiiiigh.

[railslave]

Best game ever!!

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, it's a good thing I discovered that you can change your view direction and charge shots in Panzer Dragoon. That was getting painful.

[null1024]

Well, it's a good thing I discovered that you can change your view direction and charge shots in Panzer Dragoon. That was getting painful.

Those are the two most important things about the game! It's completely designed around being able to lock-on and to rotate the camera!
To be fair, the first time I played, it took me a moment to realize I could rotate -- eventually I noticed those sections of seemingly dead space with random shots hitting me meant that I should be able to turn to face them. I expect charge shots in everything though.

also, for those who don't know and plan to play the game, L/R rotate, hold shot [so, A, B, or C] to charge

Speaking of which, I should get back to playing it. I found myself getting my face done in by episode 4, and my accuracy being a bit too low after stage 1 to get too many extends [the game calls them credits, but they act like lives].

[BrianC]

I bet things like that are in the PS2 manual, since the 3DS one is just this tiny 12 page thing thing with basic controls [ones that get explained in game anyway, natch] repeated in the three usual languages [so, 4 actual double-sided pages]. Siiiiiiigh.

Odd that it has no in system digital manual, though the manual tells you to go to http://www.talesrpg.com for the extended manual (which isn't much help anymore since it's the tales of xillia page now).

edit: It looks like the manual can be found here.

[replayme]

Well, it's a good thing I discovered that you can change your view direction and charge shots in Panzer Dragoon. That was getting painful.

Panzer Dragoon Saga is sooooooooooo good. Better then (PS1 killer) FF7 in many aspects. Such a shame that the source code has been lost, as I'm sure that Sega could really have benefitted in porting the game across to later consoles.

Personally, I'm still on FF: Crisis Core. Nearly beat it (last chapter I believe) and about 22 hours in.

[CIT]

Since I'm on holiday I've been playing my PS Vita:

Gravity Rush — Finished the game plus all DLC missions. I really like the French bande dessinée feeling, the detailed world (with own language, etc), and the high concept game system. Brings back nice memories of Dreamcast II (I mean, Xbox) era Sega (PD Orta, Gunvalkyrie, etc).

Muramasa Rebirth — This certainly profited from the HD remaster, however, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. I adore the visuals, the story is cool, and the combat system is really solid, but it's also too linear and empty. The cooking system is also really pointless and dumb. Particularly noteworthy is the excellent Hitoshi Sakimoto soundtrack.

After this I'll be moving on to Ys: Memories of Celceta.

[Ed Oscuro]

Went to try and playtest a few levels for Kaiser...thought I had the right number but didn't. Ended up finding the stairs shortjump in DOOM II's 14th map, The Innmost Dens. WTF garbage-tier level. Yeah, I fought the Arch-ville and everything, but you ain't getting out of that corner without a jump or cheat, I don't think.

Some other stuff: Still messing around with Tenchu: Shadow Assassins on PSP. 24/50 Assignments done; I haven't quite figured out Cut From The Same Cloth yet; it's currently the only open one I haven't finished. It's cool when you run through a level and get an S ranking - which I've recently done for the daimyo assassination quest. Need to play through Ayame's first mission still.

Some neat WADs from the 20th Cacowards (just the third page):

Pirates! WAD - a bit slow to start but gets great quickly. A few maps that don't really excite here and there, but good overall. Many maps are a bit too dark, though. Definitely worth checking out for anybody.

DOOM II In Name Only - the Entryway replacement is amazing. The next couple maps are forgettable, but there's some good stuff in here. Haven't gotten that far in - had to restart Waste Tunnels. But wow, what vision for Entryway - all I don't care for is the secret, and some will be surprised that you can bypass a horde of monsters by ducking into the exit soon and bypassing an entire interior room.

Stomper (Unfinished WAD) - gameplay flow could be better but it hits many other high points very well. A lot of interesting stuff going on here.

Interesting note: So far both Stomper and Pirates! use a lot of music from other sources. I forget what Stomper uses for its first level, but the second is clearly the Turok 2 theme. Pirates! uses a lot of Banjo-Kazooie music.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Crimson Skies (PC) - been playing some of it now and then, played some other shooty shooty flight games before, but this time was different. A lot like Sky Odyssey eased me into flight simulation (yup) and single-handed awoke my interest in aviation, Crimson Skies - played shortly after the Rogue Squadron WWII cosplay-fest of Secret Weapons Over Normandy - came as THE dog-fighting game where it's at.
So the lack of real taking off and landing remains a fly in the ointment. So the guy talking as "me" keeps breaking my suspension of disbelief. Aerial combat, however is top class. What in SWON feels like depleting someone's lifebar, here seems to be disabling their machine proper. It's about cosmetical and substantial details altogether, but I think the radio chatter gets to me first and foremost.
See, I've been reading Vinland Saga lately in pretty hectic circumstances and Crimson Skies combatants have a similar air of battle-craziness about 'em. The only flight shooty game where I found it before was Freelancer (them pilots begging their machines to carry on).

P.S. Originaly typed "Tears" instead of "Skies", all three times too. Most certainly a Freudian slip.

[mosey]

Marathon runs of Oddworld Odyssey and Exodus (PS1). Such a beautiful expression of game design. The sound is especially poignant. If any of you haven't played these, turn the lights down and the sound up!

[replayme]

Gravity Rush

I've been playing FF: Crisis Core and have nearly completed the main campaign. Should be going back to finish the little gem that is known as Gravity Rush afterwards.

I played a bit of Rayman Legends recently though. It's pretty damn good, and looks pretty spectacular on the Oled screen. Can only imagine what it would look like on a 50" TV with a Wii U...

[Cee]

Didn't realise the other pgm titles were now emulated ..... playing the guardian , seems like a stunning beatemup so far.

[Mortificator]

Parasite Eve. I can accept Square's cliches in a fantasy setting, but they feel so fake in contemporary New York, on both the story front ("It was easy to evacuate Manhattan, since most people left for Christmas!") and game mechanics (feed a shotty to your pistol, now the pistol's rounds burst like shotgun shells). The PS1 Resident Evils were ruthlessly realistic in comparison.

Topped-off with a poor battle system, it's hard to see how this series has a positive reputation. Maybe the second game will be better.

Crimson Tears

Skies?

[Moniker]

Parasite Eve. I can accept Square's cliches in a fantasy setting, but they feel so fake in contemporary New York, on both the story front ("It was easy to evacuate Manhattan, since most people left for Christmas!") and game mechanics (feed a shotty to your pistol, now the pistol's rounds burst like shotgun shells). The PS1 Resident Evils were ruthlessly realistic in comparison.

Topped-off with a poor battle system, it's hard to see how this series has a positive reputation. Maybe the second game will be better.

I quite liked Parasite Eve and the battle system. The sense of terror-style dread, inevitability, the atmosphere, too. Played it twice, although at a roughly 10 year divide. The second game is rubbish, mostly because of the combat system; seems like Square decided to turn PE into their own Resident Evil franchise. *shrug* The lack of the sorta gritty New York setting hurt too - but based on your assessment, that's possibly a good thing. Like the first I tried it twice, but unlike the first, never made it through.

I've heard mixed feelings on 3rd Birthday, which, from what I've heard, sounds like an attempted RE4 cash-in (I dislike the accusatory nature of the term "cash-in," but atm can't think of a better description; "clone" isn't right either). Haven't gotten up the enthusiasm to try it.

[drauch]

I love Parasite Eve as well. I love the sense of dread and the dark story, and actually quite like the battle system as well. Probably one of my favorite PSX games. I've got the sequel, but I still haven't given it a shot, or 3rd Birthday. I don't get what sort of realism one would expect in a fantasy horror video game, especially in the PSX era...

[CStarFlare]

I enjoyed the first two Parasite Eve games quite a lot. The second is certainly less inspired - but it plays a lot like RE, and I love PSX-era RE.

Sadly, I don't think the second had an optional superboss, which would have been a rad thing to have with an RE combat system.

[Ruldra]

Parasite Eve is one of the few games I absolutely hated but still bothered to play all the way to the end.

I can't remember exactly WHY I hated it (that was like 13 years ago), but I rented it on a saturday and finished it on monday. I got stuck for a very long time on the 2nd form of the final boss.

[null1024]

Tales of the Abyss [3DS].
Oh hey, they've started spicing things up with boss battles.

Spoiler

these fuckers, the God-Generals should have died ages ago damnit, the rematch fights are kind of easy -- use your team's Mystic Artes a handful of times because it pretty much interrupts everything and hits for 5k damage [would hit for 10k on a random enemy, but bosses actually have a defense stat of note, of course] and they're gone -- it would have been nice if most of them had partners, although Arietta's rematch suffered from her partners not being that dangerous

I'm still being shunted from place to place, and as much as I'd hate to say it in this manner, the game suffers from a story problem known as "Poor Communication Kills". In fact, it's 90% of why anything goes wrong in the game. Poor communication continues to kill people to this point in the story, although it's certainly not as bad as earlier on.
oh, and this: http://talesofreplica.tumblr.com/post/51172915483 -- that sort of thing happens more than it should [at all].
http://talesofreplica.tumblr.com/post/50758362085 and this

Spoiler

and the game tries to make the guys you kill seem sympathetic, but quite frankly, I just want to kill these motherfuckers for not staying dead like they were supposed to.

Parasite Eve. I can accept Square's cliches in a fantasy setting, but they feel so fake in contemporary New York, on both the story front ("It was easy to evacuate Manhattan, since most people left for Christmas!") and game mechanics (feed a shotty to your pistol, now the pistol's rounds burst like shotgun shells). The PS1 Resident Evils were ruthlessly realistic in comparison.

Topped-off with a poor battle system, it's hard to see how this series has a positive reputation. Maybe the second game will be better.

Parasite Eve, that's the one with the battle system similar to Vagrant Story, right? Except with ATB [fuck ATB]?


Hm, I'm still tempted to give it a go. 90s Square had a certain wonderful charm [even if a lot of games are a fair bit worse than I remember, and not just because they look old [hell, games like Xenogears and FF9 look somewhat nice still]].

[Ed Oscuro]

Parasite Eve is Vagrant Story's downs-afflicted syndrome. Just look closely at Aya's face.

But yeah, terrible game system - who knew that stacking fire rate bonuses on a SMG will decrease the power per shot (and end up fucking you over for ammo)?

3rd Birthday is the best game I've played on the PSP so far, and one of my favorite games all-time. Fuck the haters and their fake sexism accusations or whatever else crawled up their collective butts.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Crimson Tears

Skies?

Skies indeed. Things were happening. The flight stick I ordered that night had better be good.

[SuperGrafx]

Zelda: Link between Worlds (3DS)

Fucking awesome game. Way better than I had hoped.
It's been ages since I bothered to play through a Zelda game...glad this one is in 2D

[replayme]

Zelda: Link between Worlds (3DS)

Fucking awesome game. Way better than I had hoped.
It's been ages since I bothered to play through a Zelda game...glad this one is in 2D

The only game I would consider keeping my 3DS for, if only to find out if it is really as good as people say.

ALTTP is my favourite game of all time. So ALBW has some mighty big shoes to fill...